The invention relates to construction tools generally, and in particular the invention is concerned with a stake pulling device for facilitating the removal of stakes used in concrete form work.
In concrete construction, such as the pouring of foundations, walls, decks and other concrete structures, wooden forms are typically used to define the edges of the concrete structure and to provide smooth wall exteriors and sharp transition lines between concrete areas. Generally, but not always, vertical forms are held in place for the pour by metal form stakes driven into the ground or sometimes into wooden timbers, positioned at the outer side of the wooden form in order to bear the outward load which will be exerted by the poured, wet concrete.
The driven concrete stakes are often difficult to remove, for any of several reasons. They may be very tightly held in the ground or in a wooden timber; the side load pressure of the form makes them more difficult to pull; and in most cases, a part of the length of the stake, just above the ground, is actually surrounded by poured overburden concrete which may have partially set when the stake is to be removed. If the stake is not removed at an opportune time, it can be cemented very tightly into several inches of set concrete, making removal extremely difficult.
Previous to the present invention, other types of form stake pullers have been known. One previous stake removal device has been distributed by Dee Concrete Accessories Company of Chicago Ill., and is shown in that company's catalogue dated June 1984 at page 206. That stake removal device had a double A-frame stand several feet tall, supporting a fulcrum and lever designed to exert an upward pulling force on a form stake via a clamp which was to be engaged on the stake.
No previous form stake puller or stake removal method has been as efficient and effective in use and as versatile for multiple purposes in association with concrete form work, as the present invention described below.